Table of Contents
The Fears Of Top Athletes In Every Sport
A Spooky Solution
Speak Up About Mental Health
The Fears Of Top Athletes In Every Sport
Every single sport has its own requirements and professional standards. Being unable to meet these standards often frustrates even the biggest talent and the most skilled athlete.
These worries have little to do with the actual fear or anxiety of an individual. But more to do with the apprehensions related to their desires, performances and expectations from themselves.
- Many athletes face the fears of the pre-fight official weigh-ins, and the related weight cut and physical performance on the most important day of an event.
- Others fear the fight itself and the expectations from their coaches, managers and teams on their shoulders.
- More even concern themselves with the press conferences, media presences and cameras
- Combat and fitness athletes worldwide also face scrutiny over their physique and bodies, also making them extremely body conscious
- Even more so the pressures of modern day social media presence and criticism
A Spooky Solution
We at RDX Sports believe that there are many solutions to these short term anxieties of the sport. There are many neural hacks the body can actively use to calm the thunder. But we also recognize that the very same anger, fear or anxiety can be the catalyst for greatness to be born.
For this to be fruitful one must have a supportive team and realistic self belief. Not to mention professional dedication and determination to accomplish their dreams and achieve their goals. No matter how well trained you are, nor how determined without the support of a mentor and a team, combat sports and body building can often be difficult types of fitness to succeed in on a World Class level.
Furthermore there are some small steps an individual can take if they notice the pressures getting to them
Stop for a minute.
Take time out to stop what you’re doing and clear your mind. This can help you reevaluate your situation and reduce the panic
Take deep breaths (In from the nose and out through the mouth).
This has shown with scientific evidence to corroborate that deep breathing can help reduce heart rate and adrenaline levels by slowing down the body’s functions.
Meet your worry head on and face it no matter the worry.
Often facing the issue can remove the mental pressures of a difficult situation. We realize that after approaching the problem that it isn’t a big issue or problem at all.
Put it into perspective with other times in your life that have been difficult.
Life isn’t straightforward and we face many extreme circumstances throughout life. Often looking back at the difficulties that one has already overcome gives you the courage to pace through.
Be realistic about your point of view.
Anxiety has a strange way of escalating the smaller problems of life and accumulating these minor issues into a big one. Make sure you analyze these problems as individual ones and see your issues as they are.
Recognizing true perfection is unattainable.
Perfectionism is as big an unrealistic desire as they come. No one will truly ever achieve perfection and as an individual or as a team this must be dealt with realistically.
Visualize a happier, less worry filled memory.
Sometimes the darkness can truly get the better of us taking away our ability to think logically and fight the fear or anxiety in our mind. In these moments it is best to breathe deeply, as mentioned before and recall when you had the motivation, energy and capability to fight off the bad thoughts, giving you the motivation to do it again.
Talk about it, with a coach, a mentor, a friend or a professional.
Seeking professional help can assist you in finding the root of the situation and addressing it in a healthy manner. Further just speaking about your problems out loud amongst your peers can help you find clarity or reasoning.
Go back to basics, change the routine and introduce elements that make you comfortable.
Return to whatever made you comfortable before the mental pressures took hold, whether that is going home to see the family, taking time out for your friends or spending time with those who make you happy.
Reward yourself
That can mean a cheat day or a vacation but either way, celebrate the victories and celebrate the learning experiences. We all make mistakes, but there are always improvements we can make even at our very best. So take the time out to experience all teaching the school of life can give you.
Speak Up About Mental Health
Many fighters have spoken up about their fear or anxiety of the performance and the mental health of combat sports. Whether you’re a boxer, a mixed martial artist or a combat specialist from a specific martial style, sharing the weight with your team and a professional can be extremely helpful in your growth.
Iron, Mike Tyson;
The former champ and living legend had this to about the anxiety of entering the ring:
“And that walk to the ring and the waiting around before you get into the ring is very daunting for any fighter. I can tell you myself. Once the bell goes to fight, the fear leaves you because it’s time to fight. But the build up, the walk to the cage or ring, it’s very, very emotional for a person because you have all sorts of thoughts going in your head.”
“You don’t think about losing. You don’t want to let yourself down. You want to give a good performance. If you give your best and you lose, then you’ve given your best. And the emotions that go, throw your head, Mike was the same. He’d say to me after a fight, ‘Did I do enough? Have I done enough? Has my opponent done more?”
“Mike’s a human being, he’s not a machine. He had the same emotions that his opponent had. What Mike had over his opponents is the fact he had a fear factor because he carried all the invincibility into the ring because of his power.”
The Stylebender, Israel Adesanya;
Adesanya encourages us all to find better mental health solutions to the problems in our lives.
“People get overly excited and don’t know how to use it,” Adesanya says. “They get sad and don’t know how to control that emotion. And people sometimes throw themselves off buildings because of that. Same thing with anger. People make decisions in anger that they regret because they don’t know how to hone those feelings.”
“There’s this whole stigma around [therapy]. I know people that are smart, geniuses even, that won’t go to therapy. They won’t look after themselves mentally, but when they’re sick, they go to the doctor. So I tell people, not everyone is mentally ill, just like not everyone’s physically ill, but if you don’t look after your physical health, you’re going to get sick. Same thing as if you don’t look after your mental health, you’re going to get sick.”
"Not everyone is mentally ill, but everyone needs to look after their mental health."
🏆 MW Champion @Stylebender joins the #BellLetsTalk conversation. pic.twitter.com/cLvchQaBkV
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) January 28, 2021
Paddy The Baddy
On the other hand Paddy Pimblett, who recently faced the loss of a close friend has said;
“I woke up on Friday morning at 4am to a message that one of my friends back home had killed himself. This was five hours before weigh-in. So, Ricky, lad, that’s for you,”
“There’s a stigma in this world that men can’t talk. Listen, if you’re a man and you’ve got weight on your shoulders and think the only way you can solve it is by killing yourself, please speak to someone! Speak to anyone,” Pimblett continued.
“I know I’d rather my mate cry on my shoulder than go to his funeral next week. So, please let’s get rid of this stigma and men, start talking!”
RDX Sports encourages you to speak up about all the fear or anxiety of the professional sport lifestyle. We would like to support this belief in every single one of you this Halloween. You can find a sitewide discount using the code HALLOWEEN10 to avail your opportunity to build a legacy for all ages.
